When registration begins next month for the first applicants to the permanent diaconate programme in the Archdiocese, it will set in motion a process that will change the shape of ordained ministry here at home, in a radical way.

When Archbishop Edward Gilbert sought to obtain the mind of parish priests—and by extension parishes—on the matter, support for the move was hardly overwhelming.

Only 16 of the 61 parishes gave “positive responses”. The value of the permanent diaconate for the local Church has been debated before but, in the end, the conversation was always stymied for some of the same reasons that there was not a more favourable response to the Archbishop’s recent inquiry.

Among the arguments advanced against the programme for the Port of Spain Archdiocese, was that our well-developed lay ministry negated any real need for permanent deacons.

Some have pointed to what they consider the disadvantages of establishing yet another level of Church hierarchy that does not accommodate women.

The diaconate is only open to men. But it must also be the fact that the proposal has suffered because of a lack of proper understanding of the role of the permanent deacon.

For many centuries the diaconate was seen as little more than a step towards ordination as a priest, until its restoration at Vatican Council II (1962 -1965).

But deacons, in their own right, have been part of the Church from the earliest times. Paul writing to the community at Philippi accords a special place to the deacons.

He addresses his letter to: “all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with their presiding elders and the deacons” (Philippians 1:1).

Permanent deacons will mean that the Archdiocese will have in its ranks the three-fold hierarchy of sacred orders (bishop, priests, deacons). The diaconate will for the first time be seen as an integral part of the hierarchy of the local Church.

The grace of a sacrament

While it is possible for laypersons with authorisation to perform many of the functions of the deacon, ordination to the diaconate also officially recognises, enhances and strengthens the work of the minister with the grace of a sacrament.

Vatican II, in its Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, para. 16, puts it this way: “It would help those men who carry out the ministry of a deacon—preaching the word of God as catechists, governing scattered Christian communities in the name of the bishop or parish priest, or exercising charity in the performance of social or charitable works—if they were to be strengthened by the imposition of hands which come down from the apostles.”

The restoration of the diaconate has always been talked about with reference to the shortage of priests. Deacons are not, however, priest-helpers.

They do have an intrinsic right and reason to exist, which does not depend on priests. In the present social circumstances they offer fresh new opportunities for serving the people of God.

Reporting recently on a record number of diaconal ordinations produced by an English seminary, The Tablet stated that among those to be ordained shortly were one man who expects to complete his doctorate in astrophysics, teachers, the director of a Catholic children’s charity, accountants, solicitors and various businessmen.

In a way it is unfortunate that the obvious ageing of the clergy and a dearth of vocations to the priesthood seem to be pressuring us into the diaconate programme.

Permanent deacons would seem to offer new exciting possibilities for the local Church. It requires, however, a genuine openness in all quarters if it is to reach its true potential.